Fifteen percent of U.S. adults have diabetes. Another 38 percent have prediabetes (and 8 out of 10 of them don’t know it). Together, that comes to one in two adults with harmful blood sugar levels. The good news: Many cases can be prevented and, in some people, even reversed. Here's what to know about prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Insulin acts as a key that allows blood sugar (glucose) to enter the body’s cells, where it can be burned for fuel or stored. But in some people, the key can’t open the lock.
What’s the best diet if you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? Researchers assigned 33 people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes to eat a “Well-Formulated Keto Diet” or a “Mediterranean-Plus Diet” for 12 weeks each, in random order.
Anyone aged 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity should get screened for type 2 diabetes or prediabetes every three years, says the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Doctors should consider screening American Indians/Alaska Natives, Blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders at even younger ages, because those groups have a higher risk, said the task force. Ditto for Asian-Americans in the upper half of the “normal” weight range, anyone who had gestational diabetes, or anyone with polycystic ovarian syndrome or a family history of diabetes.
"Those at most risk for the most serious outcomes of Covid-19, including hospitalization and death, are people afflicted by diet-related chronic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease),” wrote the experts advising the government on the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
And that includes many of us, judging by our weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Here’s a snapshot of the nation’s health.
One in eight adults have diabetes (mostly type 2). Another one in three have prediabetes. Among those 65 or older, a quarter have diabetes and half have prediabetes. We now know that, at least in some people, both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes can be reversed.
One out of three adults now have prediabetes. Nine out of ten of them don’t know it.
“The good news is that if you have prediabetes, the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you make lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Through the program, you can lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 58 percent (71 percent if you’re over age 60).”
